Academic research papers are written after in-depth research and analysis of the results. If you are worried that quality research will require blood, sweat, and tears, we offer this guide. If you are using outdated tools and methods, you will need to spend hours researching relevant and not-so-relevant literature, sorting through it, writing and editing the paper. Or you can streamline the process and spend much less effort. The following tips for writing a research paper from professional personal statement writers of https://essayshark.com/ will help you improve your results.
State the Topic of Your Study
Table of Contents
If you don’t know for sure what you are looking for, you may end up wasting your time researching interesting but irrelevant facts. Try to formulate a clear question of your research from the beginning. Choose a broad topic, do a quick preliminary research before formulating a specific question.
Use Academic Search Engines
Research paper writing requires lots of time and energy spent on attending libraries and gathering all the necessary materials to justify your thoughts. The following search engines will save you a lot of time:
- iSEEK Education
- RefSeek
- Microsoft Academic Search
Gather Data
In order for your research to have weight, you need to collect data to support your thesis or refute someone else’s. Use methods such as comparative analysis, interviews, statistical sampling, empirical research, or experimentation. Depending on whether your work is aimed at confirming a hypothesis through numbers or qualitative analysis, you will need to use different tools. For example, in order to collect and make a statistical sample, you will need to delve into Excel, SPSS, or Statista. For qualitative analysis, you will need to learn the basics of morphology, logic techniques, and proper interviewing. Once you have mastered the tools you need, you won’t have to ask yourself how to do a research project.
Data Management
While you are doing your research, it is very important to avoid the trap of feeling lost. If you find an article that you particularly liked, save the link to it; otherwise, you may spend a lot of time trying to find it again, thinking it’s the best resource you could find.
However, with today’s data management tools, you can easily save all the information you need and even organize and sort it out. There is no more need to write in a notepad. Check out such sources as Endnote Basic and Mendeley.
Make the Introduction Credible
Grab the reader’s attention with interesting statistics, shocking facts, or quotes of prominent people. The main body of the research paper discusses the significance of a particular study. Try to reach the hearts of your readers by playing with their fears or selfishness.
Cite your Resources Correctly
It is not a good idea to use a style guide when compiling a reference link and citing within the text of your work. It’s an old-school and time-consuming method. You can instead consider using free online citation generators such as BibMe and Citation Machine.
Plagiarism
Be sure to check your work for plagiarism. Sometimes, even without knowing it, you can retell someone else’s idea, and it will be considered plagiarism. Try to place references everywhere to the pages from which you took someone else’s ideas. Do not overdo it with quotations because it can just turn into a simple rewriting of opinions. If you decide to use programs to check the uniqueness of your work, you should avoid resources that offer you to upload your work online.
“Write drunk, edit sober”
This quote is mistakenly attributed to Hemingway, but there is no official evidence that he ever said or wrote it. Nevertheless, it makes a lot of sense. Put your work aside for a while, then come back to it later, with a fresh head, and review it. Thus, you can eliminate all typos, grammatical and stylistic errors.
Remember that writing a research paper is a big and painstaking job. It requires organization and dedication. Find the right and understanding advisor who will tell you where to start and where to direct your research. Try to be creative and find new ways to solve problems within your topic. Do not try to overload your work with facts and data. Make it interesting not only for yourself but also for those around you. Who knows, maybe your work will change the world.
